


we could happen

by wowjunjun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Best Friends, Domestic Fluff, Drabble, M/M, Netflix and Chill, and Park Jisung, but purely domestic, mentions of Lee Donghyuck - Freeform, noren are just domestic best friends, or boyfriends?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25359145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wowjunjun/pseuds/wowjunjun
Summary: It's been a while since they last hung out; Renjun invites Jeno over for dinner.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno
Comments: 8
Kudos: 79





	we could happen

**Author's Note:**

> hi! this is unbeta-ed and is actually from a prompt generator because i only wanna write something for noren.
> 
> title is from a song by aj rafael :)

There’s a soft knock on the door. Renjun slowly sets the bowl aside and lowers the heat of the stove. Wiping his hands on his apron, he walks towards the door.

“Hi.”

He’s greeted by the sight of tall man, who goes by the name of Jeno. Said man raises his left hand which is holding a plastic full of beer cans. On his right hand is a box of chicken from their favorite shop downtown.

“I got our staple,” Jeno grins, eyes turning crescents. Much like a cute dog, Renjun notes. He smiles and steps aside, letting his friend in. He grabs the packages from Jeno’s hands, putting them on the table as the taller toes off his shoes and removes his coat.

Jeno sniffs quite loudly and hums approvingly at the wafting aroma coming from the kitchen. “Smells good, what did you cook?” He asks Renjun, who is now at the kitchen, judging from the clatter of utensils. Taking the cans with him, Jeno goes to the kitchen where he sees the petite man stir a pot of stew.

“It’s supposed to be kimchi stew. I don’t know if it tastes like one though… I might have forgotten something,” Renjun mumbles, staring at the pot with distaste. Jeno chuckles, closing the fridge after slotting the beers in the chiller. He pads towards the cook and leans to sniff further. “It seems like a decent kimchi stew to me though,” he affirms.

Renjun pouts and scoops a small portion of the soup, blowing it gently. He sips it and offers Jeno to do the same, which the latter does with no hesitation. “See? You’re a good cook,” Jeno pats his shoulder and hums, “or am I just very hungry right now?”

“Hey!” Renjun elbows Jeno, earning a chuckle from the taller. “I’m kidding, of course. Are you almost done? I’m not joking when I said I’m famished.” Jeno opens the drawer where Renjun’s cutlery is located and gets two of each. He had a fairly tiring day, barely managing to eat a decent mean in between his classes and work.

Renjun turns off the stove and carries the pot to the dining table. “Careful, that’s hot,” Jeno reminds him and places the cutlery across each other. The smaller removes the mittens and was about to sit when Jeno compliments him. “That’s a cute apron.”

“Shut up.”

He dashes to kitchen, hanging the apron on one of the cork boards. Jeno takes in the reddening cheeks and etching frown on Renjun’s face, deciding to tease him further. “Where did you get that? I didn’t know you’re into aprons. That’s noted, though.”

Renjun returns and slumps on his seat. “That’s not mine.” He darts Jeno a death glare, but the other just shrugs it off, completely used to it by now. Renjun’s glares, to Jeno at least, are not as scary as the owner want it to be.

“I know it’s from your roommate, you silly.” Jeno begins eating, sipping a spoonful of stew. “Speaking of which, where is he?”

“Jaemin has training… or at his boyfriend’s. I’m not sure.”

They continue chattering as they consume the meal, talking about their classes, their roommates, and their part time works -- the usual. Once they finished, Renjun tidies up. Jeno offered help to which Renjun quickly refused. “It’s my home, you’re a guest,” he explains. This leaves Jeno to get the box of chicken and the beers instead. He knows he can’t argue so he just settles himself on the couch.

By the time Renjun’s done cleaning up, he returns to the living room where Jeno is perched on the sofa, scrolling through his phone. The latter looks up and glances towards the food on the coffee table. 

“Round 2?”

Renjun doesn’t need to answer; he just settles on the couch and opens the television. “Do you wanna watch something while we eat again?” He lazily scrolls through Netflix. He has been busy lately so he’s quite outdated with the recent releases.

“Anything.”

“Gee, that helps.”

Jeno perks from his seat and ponders. “Well, there’s a new movie out but I don’t think you’ll want to watch it.”

Renjun eyes him, visibly offended. “And what would that be? I’m not a picky person.”

He raises his brow at Renjun, clearly not believing him, and steals the remote. “It’s Eli,” Jeno says as he searches for the certain movie. The movie information zooms in on the screen, showing its poster, genre, and synopsis. He turns to look at Renjun who stares at the television, probably absorbing it.

“It’s a horror movie,” Renjun remarks.

“Yes, and I know how you don’t like those,” Jeno states as a matter-of-fact and flips towards the movie selection, searching for something they can watch.

There’s a scoff coming from Renjun. “I may not like horror but I can watch this.”

Jeno pauses his search and looks back at his friend. “You sure?”

Renjun gulps and nods, snatching the remote from Jeno’s grasp and clicking back on Eli. The Netflix logo appears and feeling brave, he shuts all the lights off. He feels Jeno’s stare so he shrugs and opens a can of beer.

“For maximum effect,” Renjun reasons.

Jeno, still not buying Renjun’s obvious facade, opts to not dwell on it more and lets it go. He gets a can of his own and turns his attention to the screen.

The movie plays and the two watch with deep focus. It did not start off with a jump scare, much to Renjun’s relief, yet as it progresses, the scary atmosphere heightens. He scoots closer and closer to Jeno every time the screenplay hints a possible jump scare. Focused on watching, Jeno does not bother the body slowly snuggling to him. Instead, he wraps his arms around Renjun and pats his back whenever the smaller gets spooked.

Six cans of beer, a box of chicken, and a horror movie after, the two find themselves cuddling. Their bodies are entangled on each other; Renjun’s torso is pressed on Jeno’s. Apart from the TV noise, there’s silence between them. Of comfort, surely.

It takes a few moments before Renjun removes himself from Jeno’s embrace and turns off the television, which is now playing the preview of another movie. 

Jeno stretches his limbs and fishes for his phone on the coffee table. Apparently, it’s already close to midnight. “Ah, I must go home soon. I have an early class tomorrow.”

They tidy up the living room, throwing all the trash away. Once done, Jeno grabs his coat from the hanger and wears his shoes. He turns to look at Renjun, who is behind him, sending him off.

“Thanks for the dinner and the movie. See you tomorrow.”

He’s about to open the door when there is a tug on his sleeve. He glances at Renjun curiously. Did he forget something? That’s unlikely; he barely opened his bag tonight.

Renjun, whose eyes are cast on the floor, fumbles with his fingers on Jeno’s coat. He whispers something inaudible. The taller leans closer, completely missing what he just said.

“Huh? I didn't hear you.”

“I said,” Renjun raises his voice higher. He bites his lip and removes his grip on Jeno. “Would you like to stay the night? It’s already late.”

Jeno looks at his friend, who is still avoiding eye contact. It is not unusual for him to sleepover. They have been sleeping over at each other’s place ever since they became friends, which was ten years ago. Although lately, they have not done it as much; third year in college makes them have lesser time for leisure.

“Is this your way of making me stay over so you’ll have company tonight? You’re scared the monster might arrive in your sleep, aren’t you?”

Of course, Jeno sees right through Renjun. He knows Renjun does not like scary movies and anything spooky, despite Renjun faking a courageous front. It’s been like that ever since.

“I’m not scared! I just worry… uh, yes! I’m just worried for your safety. It’s already midnight, you might not catch the last train ride. You know how there are bad people around here.”

See? Renjun rambles on about safety and being a caring best friend. Jeno only smiles and nods along.

“Okay, okay. Thank you for being a caring best friend.”

Technically, the last train is at 12:45 and if Jeno misses that, there will still be the last bus at 1 AM. He knows Renjun is aware of that too. Nevertheless, Jeno toes off his shoes and undresses his coat again. The smaller dashes off to the bathroom, hiding his embarrassment. Renjun would rather die than admit his weakness.

“You can wash up after me. I’ll be fast!”

A few minutes pass by and the two now find themselves on Renjun’s bed, lying down and facing the ceiling. Jeno has already freshened up, wearing his own set of clothes from Renjun’s dresser. He has a few around for instances such as this one. He clearly cannot wear Renjun’s clothes given their difference in sizes, nor wear his roommate’s despite having almost identical builds (according to Renjun) since that would be weird. He only knows Jaemin from Renjun’s stories. They only met a handful of times, once when Renjun moved in and a few more times whenever he hangs around and Jaemin arrives home.

“What do you think happens when we sleep?”

Jeno’s thoughts get interrupted by Renjun’s sudden questioning.

Still looking on the ceiling, Renjun continues. “I read once that we do get out of our bodies whenever we are in deep sleep. We roam around and when I say around -- everywhere. Like, we can go from one place to another through our detached body. No, I think it’s spirit, cause our body is just lying down.”

Jeno hums, gesturing for him to continue.

“And then that’s why whenever we go to somewhere we’ve never been or we experience something new, we get kinda whiplashed because we think it already happened before. That’s deja vu, and it’s from our detached spirits experiencing it first before us. Ain’t that cool?”

“Yeah, it is,” Jeno agrees. He did not get a chance to even answer Renjun’s question because the latter answered it himself. He just likes listening to Renjun ramble about his wonders of life. Ah, typical Renjun -- the ever so curious and ever so smart. “Though I think we just shut off for five hours, eight if we’re lucky, and just let our body rest.”

Renjun snaps to his right where his friend is and argues. “If that is so then how come we have dreams?”

Still staring at the ceiling filled with glow in the dark stars -- Renjun made him assemble on his move in day because, yes, he is tall -- Jeno replies. “That’s because our brain creates fragments of images whenever we’re asleep. Do you know our brain is, in fact, the busiest when we are asleep?”

“Damn, my brain needs a break for real then,” Renjun sighs. Jeno chuckles and turns his body to face Renjun. “You should start by sleeping now.”

“But you just told me the brain is busiest when we’re asleep!”

“Well, not really per se. My point is it’s still busy.”

“No, you did not phrase it like that.”

“But it’s still one of the busiest times for the brain because it stores our memory. That’s why it’s important for you to sleep now because you have an exam tomorrow.”

They continue arguing; well, it’s mostly Renjun not conceding from Jeno’s scientific claims. He says it’s because Jeno is from the field of science hence he looks down on Renjun, who is in the liberal arts. Jeno just laughs it out and rides along, only wanting to egg Renjun further.

“Okay, but what do you think about mermaids? Do you believe they exist?” Renjun suddenly changes topic. Eyes now filled with mirth and wonder.

The conversation goes on and on until the both of them completely fall asleep.

  
  


The blaring sound of an alarm wakes Renjun from his slumber. With eyes still closed, his hand maps its way towards the offending noise. He cups his phone and quickly snoozes the alarm. He wants to squeeze a few more minutes of sleep before he welcomes another day.

A few minutes later, his phone starts ringing again; his second alarm goes off. He slowly comes to his sense and remembers Jeno.

“Huh?”

Renjun pats the other side of the bed and finds the sheets cold and empty. Jeno must have gone out already; he has an early class today after all, Renjun remembers. He reaches for his phone and notices a message from said friend.

_I already went to my class! I didn’t wake you up because you’re still snoring. LOL._

He types out a reply, basically telling Jeno to fuck off as a good morning text, and rises from his bed to do his morning ritual. Once done, he checks his phone again.

_But you did have a good sleep, right? Our bodies repair best when we’re asleep!_

Renjun snickers as he types out a reply while opening the door to his room.

_Sure, sure, science boy. See you at lunch._

_Stop replying and focus on your lecture._

As he slides his phone in his pocket, he notices Jaemin sitting on the dining chair. The latter eyes him curiously as he raises his mug. “Coffee?”

“Good morning, Jaem. What time did you got here?”

He goes to the cupboard and makes himself a cup of tea. He’s running out of tea bags, thus he mentally notes to buy a new box on his next grocery run. Oolong was a nice try, but he’ll stick to Jasmine.

Jaemin shrugs and sips his drink. “Early enough to see your boyfriend go out to his class.”

Renjun goes back to the dining table and sets his cup. “Jeno’s not my boyfriend.”

“And I’m not gay.”

Renjun sighs and gives a pointed look at his roommate. “Listen, we’re just best friends, okay? Just because you have a boyfriend that you go lovey dovey with does not mean the same for Jeno and I.”

During his speech, Jaemin finishes his coffee and places the cup on the sink. He’ll wash it later. Padding towards his room, he turns to Renjun and shrugs.

“Sure, Renjun. You two are _just_ best friends.”

ღ

The stairs of his dormitory look daunting, at least to Jaemin, who still hasn’t gotten a blink of sleep. He blames it to Donghyuck; that mother fucker goaded Jisung to play and rank up with him. Jisung, his ever so lovely and cute and precious boyfriend, thought it was a good idea, wholly forgetting his deadlines for today. Yes, Jaemin comes to Jisung’s defense; his boyfriend, whether he really intended to forget about his problem sets, is _innocent_. It’s Donghyuck’s fault—always will be.

With a sigh, Jaemin treads upstairs. He longs the comfort of his bed, especially the soft, freshly laundered sheets (courtesy of his roommate). A sleep sounds nice, really sweet right now. Though tired, he really enjoyed spending time with his boyfriend. If only he did not get swayed by the evil, he and Jaemin would have had cuddle time instead of study night.

"Lee Donghyuck, that piece of shit!"

Three floors after, he finally reaches his dorm room. He enters slowly and quietly, afraid he might wake up Renjun. His roommate, regardless of his cleanliness and quietness that Jaemin likes, would beat the hell out of anyone who disrupts him, especially during his sleep. Jaemin knows this from an unfortunate experience.

Surprisingly, Renjun is awake. At six in the morning. Jaemin deduces such from a few scrambling that can be heard from Renjun’s room. As far as he is aware, his roommate does not have any morning classes. Maybe he hasn’t sleep like Jaemin? Right, Jaemin remembers Renjun mentioning a few exams this week.

Nonetheless, Jaemin, craving sleep, walks towards his room, which was after Renjun’s. Before he does though, he remembers to at least drink a glass of water. He notices cans of beer beside the trash bin and wonders if Renjun got too emotional again while studying.

The door to Renjun’s room, which is adjacent to the kitchen where Jaemin is, opens. He waits for a distraught figure yet, there’s no sight of his roommate. Curious and partly worried, Jaemin goes to Renjun’s room to check up on him. What he finds is something that woke his sleepy senses.

Inside, there’s Renjun, peacefully asleep, and his best friend. Jongin? Jaehyun? Juno? Jaemin cannot recall the name. Said friend leans on Renjun and gives a soft peck on his roommate’s forehead. He stares for a few moments, a smile on his face. That smile, however, is quickly replaced with shock as he realizes the pitiful figure of Jaemin.

Jaemin, who is so stunned that he remained rooted in front of Renjun's room.

“Uh, hi.”

“Hey.”

Silence.

Jaemin coughs awkwardly while the other scratches his head. There's a faint blush smearing his cheeks. Jaemin’s too sleepy for this kind of situation. Normally, he knows how to act at any given circumstance but this… it’s safe to say he’s unprepared.

“I’m gonna go now. H-have a morning class. Bye!”

Renjun’s best friend dashes outside in a blink of an eye; Jaemin did not even manage to utter a reply.

Oh, it’s Renjun’s boyfriend not best friend now, Jaemin mentally notes. He needs to talk to Renjun once he wakes up. How dare he forget telling Jaemin about this? A double date must be scheduled!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!
> 
> i honestly would have written more but i got lazy. also let's just act as if i watched eli... i really don't know much about horror movies so i just searched netflix haha.
> 
> gush about nct and fics with me? <3 [twt](https://twitter.com/wowjunjun) / [cc](https://curiouscat.me/wowjunjun)


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